The U.S. natural gas rig count climbed three units to 104 during the week ended Friday (July 16) as domestic drillers turned in another week of steady gains, the data from oilfield services provider Baker Hughes Co. (BKR) show.

Three natural gas-directed rigs and two oil-directed rigs were added during the week as the overall number of active U.S. rigs rose to 484, up from 253 active units in the year-ago period, the BKR numbers, based in part on data from Enverus, show.

Three vertical units, one directional unit and one horizontal unit were added in the United States for the period. Land drilling increased by five units overall, while the Gulf of Mexico count held at 17, up from 12 a year ago.

In Canada, six oil-directed rigs and seven gas-directed rigs were added during the...